There have been many types of different inclinometers available in the past. However, those that have been capable of providing accurate sensing of the upright positioning of a body have been relatively complicated and further are limited in the type of sensing devices required to make them operate. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,643 issued Feb. 13, 1976 describes a measuring device usable as an inclinometer and operated by means of magnetic sensors. The setup in this patented structure requires four-solenoids divided into two differential fluxgate pairs in balanced positions beneath a magnet supported in a pendulum like manner.
As a result of the above and below positioning of the magnet relative to the fluxgates, all four of the solenoids are required for proper measurements. Furthermore, the fluxgates themselves will not only be expensive but are extremely finicky and subject to damage and heat fluctuations requiring very delicate handling of the apparatus in this particular patent.
Other inclinometer type devices have been developed using plumb members such as the arrangement described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,693 issued Jun. 8, 1976 to Schamblin. The drawback in this structure is that it requires an actual touching of the plumb member to its surounding sensors to indicate an out of plumb position. Therefore, the device of this patent is not capable of determining slight inaccuracies in upright positioning of apparatus requiring such positioning.
There have, additionally, been designed many different types of apparatus for supporting scientific or measuring instruments. Tripods have been found to be particularly useful as under most conditions they provide an extremely stable platform for measuring or recording relatively slow moving events. However, when such instruments are used on unstable ground, as for example, on sandy soil or the like, the weight of the instrument on the tripod causes an uneven sinking of the tripod legs into the sand resulting in on off-level positioning of the instrument. This is a major drawback where, for example, in amateur telescopy the astronomer wishes to take a picture of the stars over a long time exposure requiring an extremely stable level support.